Luke Martin Leads Day 2 Charge on Final Table at MPNPT Tallinn 2019

Bubbles are rarely as well paid as this!

Day 2 was always going to be critical in deciding the direction the MPNPT Tallinn trophy would head and so it proved as we returned with 184 players, whittled down after 11 frantic levels of play to a final 18. Rebuys were still in effect for the first level of the day but once that had passed, we had a tangible prizepool, concrete list of payouts and the bubble point had been determined – 71 players would be paid.

Shackles off, the traditional domino effect ensued, shortstacks finally freed to risk their tournament lives in search of a double and a number of quickfire eliminations followed – players such as Microgaming qualifier Dehlia De Jong (50th – €1,100), Day 1A and Day 1B chip leaders, Roland Luik (44th – €1,250) and Ilija Savevski (69th – €900) all securing paydays for their efforts.

The rest of the evening’s poker was fiercely but amicably contested – some players seeking to stave off the pressure with a few libations (with occasional comical results.) Proceedings were remarkably civilised even as the stakes rose – eliminations often punctuated by fist-bumps between victors and vanquished. It was truly a pleasure to see such geniality displayed in the competitive crucible of a poker tournament at its business end.

Missed the hockey but rode his puck.

Eventually, the pleasantries and coinflips melted away leaving a field trimmed to two remaining tables of players. Peter Pihlstrom was an unlikely hero – emerging near the top of the chip counts having at one point faced almost certain elimination, his coat in his hand as he prepared to hit a local hockey game. Despite his opponent hitting a set, four diamonds saw Pihlstrom saved by a winning flush – and he parlayed this turn of fortune into nearly two million chips at the close of play.

It was Luke Martin however who showcased some advanced poker skill to top the counts once the day was called with a mountainous 2,900,000 chips. Congratulations!

Martin will return favourite for the title and the €51,000 first prize but with talented players such as tour regular Johan Goslings, the jovial and gregarious Declan Rice and 2018 MPNPT Bratislava runner-up Jussi Mattila waiting in the wings to take advantage of any slip ups, we won’t be foolish enough to make any cast-iron predictions. The final 18 warriors will return tomorrow to battle to a winner and line up as follows:

Name

Qualifier Status

Chips

Luke Martin

2,900,000

Peter Pihlstrom

Paf

1,927,000

Cody Wagner

Grosvenor Poker

1,708,000

Arunas Garunkstis

1,463,000

Jussi Mattila

1,453,000

Virginijus Lapenas

Guts

1,387,000

Maarten Wichgers

853,000

Alar Neemsalu

771,000

Tiit Piller

764,000

Jack Hardcastle

730,000

Eirik Presterud

Guts

702,000

Tarmo Tammel

692,000

Jorn Inge Hval

Guts

658,000

Rikard Andersson

Paf

582,000

Declan Rice

Betsson Poker

413,000

Paul Johnson

32Red

362,000

Andrejs Perederejevs

349,000

Johan Goslings

Betsson Poker

212,000

We’ll be back to cover all the action at the later time of 2:00pm and we’ll have a cards-up twitch stream with commentary running on a 20 minute delay all day. Make sure you tune in for the lowdown!

For now thanks for following, here’s the full list of cashers from today. Join us tomorrow as we conclude MPNPT Tallinn and crown a new champion on the first leg of 2019’s tour. We can’t wait to see how it plays out!